NEW DELHI – Lieutenant General Manoj Pande has become the first engineer tobe appointed as chief of the Indian Army as the incumbent army chief,General Naravane, is set to retire.
Pande, the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become thecountry’s top general, will be given the command of the Indian Army onApril 30.
In his nearly four decades long military career, Pande, 59, has commandedthe 117 engineer regiment along the Line of Control (LoC) during alarge-scale mobilisation of Indian soldiers and weapons to the westernborder and led an infantry brigade along the LoC.
Pande was the commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command beforehe took charge of the Eastern Command and was promoted as the vice chief ofthe Indian Army in February.
The decorated officer also served as chief engineer in the UN peacekeepingmissions in East Africa. He took command of the IV Corps of Tezpur fromgeneral Gurpal Singh Sangha in the year 2018. Later, he moved toheadquarters and was appointed director-general.
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General Manoj progressed from National Defence Academy and was commissionedinto the Bombay Sappers, one of the regiments in the Corps of Engineers inDecember 1982. He attended the Staff College, Camberley in Britain andreturned to India, and was appointed Brigade Major of a mountain brigade.
The top general has also been conferred with several awards including theParam Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal,the Chief of Army Staff Commendation.
On the other hand, the Modi-led administration is expected to pick the nextchief of defence staff as the coveted post has been vacant since death ofBipin Rawat who was killed in a helicopter crash in December 2021.
